Newey’s lack of “technical arrogance” in F1 a great strength

Despite many decades of involvement in F1, Newey remains at the top of his game and most recently helped Red Bull’s title successes last season.

Aston Martin’s new technical director Dan Fallows worked alongside Newey for many years at Red Bull, and says it was an eye-opening experience for him understanding how he operated.

Fallows reckons it was Newey’s mindset in not believing that he had the answers to everything that was central to him adapting so well to the changing nature of F1.

“I’m one of the fortunate people to have worked under Adrian and seen his methods,” explained Fallows.

“He has a very clear approach to the way he designs and develops a car, particularly from the aerodynamic side of things. We’re all aware that it’s a very non-compromise approach, very focused on small details.

“But I think one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed with him is that he lacks any kind of technical arrogance about him.

“He’s very open to being told about things that he’s stipulated or things that he’s suggested that then haven’t worked or there are better ideas out there. And that’s almost irrespective of where those comments come from.”

Fallow said the trait of listening to others for input was something that he has tried to instil in both himself and those he has worked with.

“I think that’s something I definitely try to bring into my own work,” he said.

“What I very much encourage a lot of the technical team to do is to be open-minded, even if you have very clear visions about how you want to develop things or very clear ideas about the car.

“Make sure you’re not technically arrogant about it. If somebody does suggest something better, be open-minded, irrespective of who they are. I think that’s one of his [Newey’s] great strengths, and hopefully I’ve sort of carried that on.”